Explore this engaging Q&A with Virgel Hammonds, CEO of the Aurora Institute and a leading voice in learner-centered education. In this conversation, Virgel shares his professional journey, discusses the Aurora Institute’s mission to transform K-12 education, and highlights the critical role of personalized, competency-based learning in fostering student success. He reflects on Aurora’s efforts to reshape education systems by partnering with policymakers, educators, and communities nationwide.

With over 20 years of experience, Virgel has held numerous leadership roles, including Chief Learning Officer at KnowledgeWorks, superintendent of RSU 2 in Maine, and high school principal at Lindsay Unified School District, where he championed learner-centered, personalized models designed to ensure mastery of standards by all students.

Please share a bit about your professional journey and what led you to become the Aurora Institute CEO in 2024.

I’ve been fortunate to serve in various roles throughout my career, from tutor and teacher to principal and superintendent. From the beginning, I truly fell in love with the idea of serving young people. My experience as a migrant aid and later principal in Lindsay, California, was pivotal—working with migrant families, we embraced personalized learning and pushed the boundaries of what schools could be. That was where I really leaned into the idea of rethinking the system to support not just the students but their communities as well.

When I became a principal, Lindsay was focused on personalizing learning, recognizing that each student had different strengths, experiences, and dreams. I was grateful to be part of a community that was ahead of the curve, leaning into brain science and the science of learning to rethink pedagogy. One moment, however, that profoundly shaped my approach was when a student who had just graduated couldn’t read. It was a wake-up call about the gaps in our system. From that point, I committed to competency-based education—ensuring that every student not only advances but masters the skills they need for life. While radical personalization is important, we also need to be clear about the expectations for learning. We must provide students with the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.

Now, at Aurora, and previously at KnowledgeWorks, my focus is on driving systemic changes on a broader scale, advocating for policies that support personalized, equitable learning environments, backed by research and data.

Please describe the unique mission and work of the Aurora Institute. What work are you particularly excited about that Aurora has underway?

What is unique about Aurora is that we amplify best practices across the country by leaning into systems leaders and teacher leaders who are unafraid to dismantle the inequitable structures that have existed in our learning environments for decades. Aurora supports policymakers and system leaders in seeing the possibilities presented through policy, practice, and research. As we engage with incredible educators, we focus on creating a multiplier effect by highlighting best practices and convening visionary educators and community members in meaningful ways. Together, we explore what we can build, connect on, and amplify for others to learn from.

Let me share a couple of examples of some of the exciting work we have underway. Aurora is currently serving as the evaluator of the Mastery-Based Learning Collaborative in Washington State–a collaborative that seeks to advance mastery-based learning and culturally responsive and sustaining education throughout dozens of schools in the state. This summer, we published our Year 3 report examining the first cohort of schools in the collaborative, and found evidence that the collaborative is indeed making good on its vision. The report finds evidence of promoting deeper mastery-based learning and culturally responsive and sustaining education implementation and positive impacts on early outcomes such as increasing student engagement and ownership, improving school climate and cultural responsiveness, and making learning more authentic and engaging.

CompetencyWorks, our knowledge-building hub dedicated to lifting up stories about implementation around CBE has piloted a new, interactive learning series this year – CompetencyWorks & Coffee – which has been really well-received. In these virtual events, folks are invited to grapple with a particular area of focus related to CBE – such as work-based learning – and network with experts in the space. Stay tuned for more to come on this series in the new year!

Additionally, the organization continues to serve as a thought leader in the policy space, and invites folks to check out our state and federal policy recommendations aimed at transforming K-12 systems. 

Sustained innovation often relies on key levers that move the system forward. What levers do you believe act as catalyzing forces for innovation?

Transformative shifts in education require significant commitment; they don’t happen overnight. A critical first step is adopting a mindset that believes in the potential of all children. It pains me that some folks don’t believe in all children, but that is a shift we need to address. Achieving a shared vision goes beyond mere buy-in; it demands unwavering commitment to the work, especially in the face of challenges. We need to be ready to dismantle any load-bearing walls that hinder progress, ensuring we have a new design in place to support our educational system.

Moreover, a commitment to equity is paramount. At Aurora, we believe that all learners can thrive when given opportunities to engage with relevant, meaningful, robust content applicable to their contexts. Establishing rigorous expectations and facilitating the application of knowledge are essential. However, it’s important to recognize that our responsibility to learners extends beyond the educational system to include family, health, and community systems. By fostering partnerships and considering workforce opportunities for families, we enrich learning experiences for young people. Ultimately, meaningful change is about what happens not just in classrooms, but throughout entire communities.

What are the non-negotiables when you think about competency-based education? At Aurora, how do you define competency-based education?

Various forms of pedagogy are essential to helping learners achieve competency and mastery. In a competency-based system, project-based learning is especially valuable, and research backs this up. Blended learning, work-based experiences, extended learning opportunities, and community partnerships all play a crucial role in creating rich, meaningful learning experiences tailored to each student. However, these experiences must be grounded in clear and transparent expectations. To ensure equity for all learners, we need to clearly define what students are expected to learn and what competencies they must achieve. When we talk about deeper learning, we must specify what it looks like and how it is measured.

At Aurora, we believe competency-based learning is centered on a shared, community-driven vision. Students progress based on their mastery of skills rather than seat time, demonstrating their learning at pre-identified levels of competency while being personally engaged in the process. This approach necessitates timely and actionable support, moving away from end-of-year assessments to ongoing evaluation in partnership with the learner. Rigorous, common expectations for learning (knowledge, skills, and dispositions) are explicit, transparent, measurable, and transferable. Additionally, learners should set their own goals based on competencies, which requires a shift in assessment methods. By leaning into formative assessment structures and calibrating learning experiences beyond the classroom walls, we can validate each student’s understanding and readiness for application in real-world context. This focus on pedagogy, engagement, assessment, and learner advancement represents key shifts in our educational practice. And, most importantly, strategies to ensure equity for all students are embedded in the culture, structure, and pedagogy of schools and systems. 

Agency plays such a critical role in your framework. Have you seen a mindset shift happen at the system level?

I’d like to start with a quick story: When I was young, my mom pushed for me to join a gifted and talented program. Even though I passed the necessary tests, I remember sitting in an office where the testing coordinator said my English wasn’t good enough. If it hadn’t been for my mom’s persistence—insisting that I was capable—I might not have been admitted. But even after she fought for me, I chose not to join because I felt unwelcome. At just 8 or 9 years old, I already sensed that my voice didn’t matter. This is something we see far too often in traditional education systems. Students come in with strong voices, big ideas, and a desire to improve their communities, but we suppress that agency with rigid curricula and an overemphasis on standardized testing. This not only stifles students, but also educators, limiting their ability to innovate.

To change this, we need to create cultures that value and nurture agency. We must amplify the powerful voices of students and educators alike, and truly listen to them. The key is moving beyond traditional schooling and embracing a learning community model. This means engaging families, community partners, faith-based organizations, and local professionals to build a support system that extends beyond the classroom. When I talk about a learning community, I mean a space where educators aren’t working in isolation but are supported by a broader network. At the Aurora Institute Symposium, we’ll see leaders who are putting students at the center, co-designing solutions, and validating their experiences outside of school as meaningful learning. By collaborating with the workforce and understanding community needs, we can build talent pipelines and address real issues, all while empowering students to be active participants in their own education.

At the same time, a focus on research and development (R&D) is also critical. Without it, we cannot demonstrate that these new systems work. Just like our students in competency-based structures and learning communities show their progress every day, we need to prove that we’re ready to dismantle systems that have been in place for over a hundred years. R&D is essential for that. It’s also important to look at broader, systemic metrics that transcend traditional school measures. We need to examine persistence data beyond K-12, community health and well-being indicators, salary and income data, and even community income data to see how our work impacts families over time. These additional metrics help us assess whether we’re truly being successful and this is where the beauty of reciprocal accountability comes in—it moves beyond one or two summative assessments and allows us to hold ourselves accountable in a more comprehensive, meaningful way.

What role do you think state and federal policy plays in advancing competency-based education and work-based learning?

State and federal policy play a critical role in advancing competency-based education—it can either hinder progress or help amplify innovative structures and designs. As I mentioned earlier, each year, we issue policy guidelines based on best practices from the field and learning communities. This year, one of the key recommendations we’re making to legislators is to rethink the assessment and accountability structures for communities that have fully embraced competency-based education. In these systems, students advance based on demonstrated competency or proficiency, so it’s important to redefine what accountability looks like in this context.

Related, is the idea of reciprocal accountability, or the idea of mutual responsibility within a system, initially developed by school improvement expert Richard Elmore. It’s about moving from our traditional, top down, unidirectional accountability system to one where systems are designed to meet the needs of their communities, and are held accountable for a broader set of outcomes based on those needs. Some states have already begun this process through efforts such as creating a “Portrait of a Graduate,” which defines competencies tied to specific goals for students. These states are engaging educators, students, community members, and workforce partners to develop these competencies, making the design process inclusive and aligned with the community’s future needs. We’re also advocating for more investment in research and development to support these efforts. The appetite for this work is clear—20 states applied for Competitive Grants for State Assessments (CGSA grants) to explore new methods of assessment and accountability, with 10 states receiving funding. These states will work together to share their research and best practices, helping others follow suit. By building both local and broader learning communities, I believe we can better serve students and improve educational outcomes.

The Aurora Institute Symposium 2024, which concluded earlier this month, brought together innovators working to transform K-12 education. What are some of the most exciting trends and breakthroughs that emerged from the convening?

At this year’s Aurora Institute Symposium, there was much more youth participation than ever before. It’s incredible to hear young people talk about what learning means to them—how they take ownership, guide their education, redesign it, and advocate for themselves and their communities. Whether on the main stage or in breakout sessions, their voices are central. As an educator, it’s inspiring to see students not only mastering competencies but in some cases also designing their assessments. The rigor and relevance of their work often surpass traditional approaches because it’s meaningful and connected to real-world opportunities. When learning communities foster this kind of agency and collective efficacy, the results are truly transformative.

It’s also exciting to see reciprocal accountability becoming a reality. What we once talked about as a possibility is now being put into practice by learning communities. For example, in New Mexico, the “Portrait of a Graduate,” along with capstones and innovation zones, is helping these communities measure what matters most at the local level. It’s inspiring to see what they’ve designed. Similarly, Pillsbury United Communities in Minnesota have created new measures in partnership with their community, reflecting a shared vision for student success. Further, organizations like ETS, Carnegie, and the Mastery Transcript Consortium (MTC) are also leading the way in rethinking how we assess and credential student learning. It’s exciting to see ETS, a traditional assessment organization, and Carnegie taking bold steps to innovate the way we validate and document student learning. For many, it’s eye-opening to witness these shifts happening in real-time.